Product description

Dante Walker is flippin' awesome, and he knows it. His good looks, killer charm, and stellar confidence has made him one of Hell's best a soul collector. His job is simple, weed through humanity and label those round rears with a big red good or bad stamp. Old Saint Nick gets the good guys, and he gets the fun ones. Bag-and-tag. Sealing souls is nothing personal. Dante's an equal opportunity collector and doesn't want it any other way. But he'll have to adjust, because Boss Man has given him a new assignment: Collect Charlie Cooper's soul within 10 days. Dante doesn't know why Boss Man wants Charlie, nor does he care. This assignment means only one thing to him, and that's a permanent ticket out of Hell. But after Dante meets the quirky, Nerd Alert chick he's come to collect he realizes this assignment will test his abilities as a collector, and uncover emotions long ago buried.

Author information

Victoria Scott is a YA writer with a die-hard affection for dark and humorous books. She has a master's degree in marketing, and is a member of the Writers' League of Texas and Teen Shiver. She currently lives in Dallas.

Customer reviews

The Collector's basic premise sounds familiar - a bad boy, a love story, and its paranormal. But what makes The Collector so good is how Victoria has fun with idea and puts her own spin on it.

Told from the perspective of the bad boy, The Collector is surprisingly sweet, poignant, and hilarious and should work well for readers who enjoy paranormal books but want a fresh take on this genre.

Reasons to Read:

1. Dante's voice is all his own:

This really stands out among other books, but Dante's voice is VERY distinct. He has his own sense of humour, his own quirks, and he sounds unlike any other character I've read. It really helped me get into his head and better understand his character, but I think it's going to be hit-or-miss for most readers. Some people just won't take to it at all, and that's a matter of taste. But I thought Victoria did an incredible job letting Dante take on a life of his own with his narrative.

2. Gradual romance:

Have you noticed how often this is one of my "reasons to read" when I like a book? I'm never a fan of insta-love, never ever. I like it slow and I love the anticipation from the build-up. I like that Dante is slow and steady, because it makes the romance more believable to me as a reader. It's like a slow burn, and I like it.

3. Thoughtful character development:

Dante undergoes a fairly drastic transformation in The Collector, and Victoria must be commended for her insight on the feelings and internal struggle of a teenager. And she handles Charlie's own transformation in a very different but interesting way. It has so much to do with that desire to be accepted by someone, and they are such fascinating characters.

I mentioned earlier that not all readers are going to connect with Dante; he has his moments of being a jerk, and some readers just don't relate to that at all. And some of the lines are so cheesy, but I have the impression that they're supposed to be somewhat cheesy. It adds to the humour.

The plot also felt a bit too convenient for me. I didn't find it to be that surprising or shocking, but that barely took away from my enjoyment of this new series. It's a lot of fun, and a great new take on YA paranormal and the male perspective makes it stand out even more.

E-galley received from Entangled/author for review; no other compensation was received.

Thoroughly enjoyed The Collector. The main character, Dante Walker, was really funny - great one-liners. I have trouble finding YA books that are up my alley, cause most of them are written from a girl's perspective. But this one was totally different. Looking forward to the next one.

I went into this book not knowing what to expect, and to be honest, I wasn't sure I'd like it. My friend recommended it and sometimes we have different tastes. But I'm so happy she told me to get this one because I loved it! The characters are amazing, and I thought Dante was so funny. I was never bored and was so addicted to watching Dante and Charlie's relationship progress. Can't wait for the next book in this series. I tell everyone I know about this book now. lol

Dante Walker is so bad he's good. Good at his job working for the Boss Man 'downstairs', good at training fellow collectors and good with the ladies. He gets in, gets the job done and gets out. Until Charlie Cooper. With her gawky smile and limping leg - it shouldn't be a problem to get her to be bad with him. Ten days to claim her soul? Piece of cake!

Except Charlie is nothing like anyone Dante has ever met before. She's just so... good! The challenge gets even tougher when Dante starts falling for the plain jane and Dante is faced with a dilemma more difficult than anything he's faced in life - or death.

I've been hearing a lot about Victoria Scott's Dante Walker for a while now. The man's man, ladies man, man about town whose swagger is to die for. He's one of those characters that grew on me. At first I thought he was entertaining but about as deep as dishwater. But the more I read and the more involved I got with Dante and Charlie's story - he surprised me on a number of levels. This character has a lot going for him - and not just the sex appeal and charm that he is oh-so-well aware of. He's got heart.

Charlie Cooper. I'm a fan of alliterative names and Charlie is one character that I was shocked to like so much. She's one of those people who are perfect. Perhaps not physically (and lets face it flawless appearances are a bit of a turn off for me so many be that's another point in her favour) but she's a all-round do-gooder. There's no one she wouldn't help even if it was at a disadvantage to herself. She's just that nice! When tragedy and adversity had the chance to make her bitter and twisted, Charlie took the high road and tried to be the best person she could be. Sounds like she could be sickeningly sweet but when meeting and getting to know her through Dante's eyes - she's just adorable.

Plot wise - there's a lot going on. Some twists I expected, some I never saw coming but they worked well with the rest of the drama unfolding. There were a few surprises and I have to admit the ending has left me so very curious as to where Scott is going to take Dante, Charlie and the rest of the crew in the next instalment of the Dante Walker series.